Dead Or Alive

“You, my friend, are drunk.” Alec slurred, gesturing wildly with the bottle he was holding.

“So are you.” Richie pointed out with a drunken giggle.

“Never said I wasn’t. But you gotta travel in… in a few hours. Not fun with a hangover.”

“Nope.” Richie swigged down the last of his beer and stood up, holding onto the bar for support as he swayed.

Alec laughed as he s, al, almost falling to the floor. “I’ll walk you back to your hotel – you won’t know the way.”

“Ever the gentleman, aren’t you, Alec?”

Their arms slung around each other, the two drunken guitarists stumbled out of the bar and into the night. Alec led them deeper and deeper into an old, derelict industrial estate.

Richie stopped and looked around with a frown. “You sure this is the right way?”

“Sure. It’s my town, Richie. And this is a shortcut.”

“Oh. Well, if you’re sure…”

“Course I am.” Alec directed him into an abandoned warehouse. “I just gotta catch my breath for a second.” He leaned against a wall, watching Richie from under hooded eyelids as the guitarist slid down to the floor, back against a metal pillar, head dropped down on his chest. “Richie?” He called softly, grinning when Richie didn’t respond. He shook himself, stretching as he pulled himself up. Damn, he’d forgotten how much Richie could drink before he passed out. He’d been hard pressed to keep up with him. Not that it mattered now, of course.

Alec crouched down next to Richie, a set of handcuffs in his hand. He pulled both of Richie’s arms behind the pillar, locking his wrists together with the cuffs and used a dirty bandana from his pocket to gag him.

Alec took a step back to admire his handiwork before leaning in and slapping Richie repeatedly around the face until he blinked blearily up at him. The dazed expression soon turned to one of panic as Richie took in his surroundings, pulling at the cuffs, grunting at Alec through the gag.

Alec grinned and sat down on the floor next to Richie. He ran his fingers down the side of Richie’s face, laughing when he jerked his head away. “I must confess I lied about a few things. The main one, as you can see, is that this is not the way to your hotel. More like a dead end, really. You’re probably wondering what the fuck is going on. Well, it’s a long story and to be honest, I can’t be bothered to tell you it.” Alec shifted to kneel in front of Richie. “The condensed version is that I have something to say to Jon. And guess what, Sambora…”

Richie’s eyes widened and he paled as he watched Alec’s face turn from human to the ridged and fanged features of a vampire. He swallowed heavily, tugging as hard as he could against the cuffs, but to no avail.

Alec grabbed Richie’s head in his hands, tilted it to the side and brushed his hair away from his neck. His next words were distorted slightly, his elongated teeth grazing along Richie’s neck. “You’re the message!”